<<Arda Kaje's Quarters>>

"I can't go on.", Kaje whispered bitterly. She pulled back the tears again and bit her lip until it turned white. "I can't go on."

Epic, under almost any other circumstances, would have quietly savored the woman's pain while she struggled with it. But, Arda was different. For Epic, Arda enjoyed an almost sainted quality, despite her own self-loathing. To Epic, she was the Blessed Virgin. And her pain was intolerable.

Epic moved to embrace her and she stiffened in alarm. He disregarded that and held her close and fast. She needed the physical contact as much as she needed the emotional support. Besides, Epic needed to be touching her in order for his designs to work. He wasn't the strongest telepath on Betazed. Not by a long shot.

And in his mind, he began to sing Magda's Lullaby.

Arda had heard the song before, the day after Kaede was born. Epic had sang it to the baby girl while he held her for the first time. He had sung it twice, to give Arda the opportunity to learn the simple words and melody. But, this was different.

When Epic had sung the song aboard the Nova, he had done it with skill and obvious passion. And he had sang with his voice. But now... Now, his whole heart and soul supported the song. Now, he sang with his mind. And, though Arda Kaje could not be certain, a woman, with a beautifully melodious voice, was singing with him. Arda didn't stop

weeping, but her tears became less bitter and more happy. She experienced several flashes of childhood joy, random and unassociated with the song she heard.

And her tears had hardly quieted when they were renewed with a joyous squeal. The baby, Kaede, awakened by the sound in her mind of what she considered `Her Lullaby', began to sing too. It was imperfect and poorly done, but it was pure and genuine and both Epic and Arda laughed with eyes sparkling of tears.

Kaede, almost as quickly as she had awakened, was soothed back to sleep by her own singing. In his mind, Epic felt her slowly subside into her innocent bliss. And when he finally released Arda from his arms, she was asleep, too.

Epic lifted her easily and moved her to her bed. He laid her down gently and covered her with a blanket. He did remove her shoes first.

Then, he went to Kaede's crib and looked at her for a long while. In the small hours of the night, he went to his quarters to sleep.

He had a few more interviews tomorrow.